Hand painting operations utilizing a quantity of paint and a paintbrush comprise one of the most common decorating and renovating techniques used to enhance the appearance of objects such as dwellings, houses, commercial buildings or other structures and a virtually endless array of apparatus such as furniture or the like. The typical paintbrush used in such hand painting operations is subject to substantial size and shape variation. However, generally all such brushes include an elongated handle for supporting a plurality of flexible thin bristles or hairs in a bunched array.
Generally, such brushes are used with a paint container which may vary in size from relatively small metal or plastic cans having capacities of one gallon or less as well as large commercial grade five gallon cans used in high volume painting operations. In a typical painting process, the brush is repeatedly immersed to a selected depth within the supply of paint and thereafter used to brush on or deposit the paint upon the to-be-painted surface. Some skill is usually required to properly manipulate the brush to obtain the appropriate supply of paint upon the bristles each time the brush is reimmersed within the paint. Care is also taken to avoid dripping excessive paint upon the surrounding area of the paint container as well as the surface itself. This painting process continues generally until the task is completed or the paint supply is depleted. In most instances, however, the painting process is interrupted periodically to perform supporting tasks such as moving equipment or ladders, covering surrounding objects or areas, or to perform tasks such as edge masking or the like. During these interruptions, the painter needs to rest the paintbrush at some convenient location. This need to periodically rest the paintbrush upon a convenient surface or container can however become a problem due to the quantity of paint which remains upon portions of the paintbrush bristle or hairs raising the possibility of contamination of the brush from some dirt laden surfaces or undesired mess due to paint deposit upon surfaces not intended to be painted. Thus, a genuine problem arises in providing such a convenient resting place.
To meet this need, practitioners in the art have provided various devices configured to provide a convenient resting surface for a paint laden paintbrush during these interruptions in the painting process. Perhaps, one of the most effective devices provided comprises a cast metal member having an elongated center shaft terminating at one end in an upwardly angled riser having a U-shaped portion for resting a paintbrush handle. The remaining end of the paintbrush holder supports a crossbar extending transversely used to rest the bristles or hair of the paintbrush as the handle rests in the U-shaped portion. The crossbar defines an upwardly extending tab or prong which engages the bristle or hair array of the brush to maintain its position. A screw clamp and bracket extends downwardly from the elongated portion of the brush holder and is used to engage the upper edge portion of the paint container in a secure attachment. This device proved relatively effective and desirable in that it supports the paint laden bristles of the brush in a manner extending into the paint container above the paint surface. Unfortunately, the device also proved relatively difficult to secure to and remove from the paint can upper edges and was only unfortunately relatively expensive to produce.
In further attempts on the part of practitioners to meet this need, other devices have been provided. For example, generally planar grille structures having means for attachment to the upper portion of the paint can have been provided as well as certain devices used to suspend or retain the brush above the paint surface within the interior of the paint can.
Despite this effort on the part of practitioners in the art, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for an inexpensive, easy to fabricate and effective paintbrush holder which overcomes the problems and limitations of the prior art devices.